The Tears of Tragedy
by hopeofabrightfuture
Summary: When Tristany Sinclair's best friend commits suicide Tris is shocked. She refuses to eat or speak and is waiting to die. At least that was her plan before her parents sent her to Hetalia World Academy. Very few people truly know how serious her condition is, one of them being her best friend Feliciano. No matter what all the people at HWA will be needed to save Tris from herself.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so, like a few nights ago I had this epic brain storm when I was watching Blassreiter and I just had to write it down. This general idea had been bouncing around in my head even since I came up with Tristany Sinclair and now it is finally getting published on fanfiction! Yay. In the first brain storm wave I wrote two chapters so I have no idea when chapter three will be up. And school starts tomorrow so updates will be very slow.**

Chapter 1: Disaster strikes

_It's always hard when you lose someone, isn't that what they always tell us, especially if you know you could have saved them if you had said or done something, anything. And the thing is your life will never be the same ever again and there's nothing you can do about it, nothing but keep moving forward until the pain is too much and you decide to end it and follow them. But until then you suffer and you can't let anyone see your pain because then they'll try to help and probably end up doing more harm than good. And you should never have to find out about your best friend's suicide from a third hand source… like I did._

Tristany Sinclair was sitting on the front steps of some apartment or other having grown tired of endlessly wandering the streets alone when she heard them. Two men, who were perhaps police officers, were walking down the street toward her, talking.

"-I heard it was pretty bad, poor kid hung herself. She was probably bullied."

"Man, kids these days have it rough, way tougher than I ever did. I wonder why they don't ever tell anyone, they have to know that there are people who want to help them." Tristany hung her head.

_They don't tell anyone because they want you to see and reach out to them._

"And did you see the mother? She was so…" The man shook his head, at a loss for words.

"I know what you mean. I wanted nothing more than to help her but what could I do now?"

"We can only do our jobs and file our reports." Tristany rose from her spot on the steps and called out to the men.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me the name of the family this happened to?"

_It can't be her._

_She wouldn't, she couldn't._

_She would have told me._

_Not her, not her._

"Sure kid…" The man turned to his partner. "Chris, wasn't the family named Lewis or something?"

"I think it was Lynch."

It was her.

Tristany felt her lips quivering as the name sank in. A single tear traced its way down her cheek.

"Lea…" she whispered as her knees buckled. "Not Lea."

"You knew her?"

"My best friend." Tristany whispered then her head snapped up. "Did she make it?" The men were both silent which was answer enough. Tristany shakily stood and began to run to the hospital nearest Lea's home.

When Tristany finally reached the hospital she was out of breath and panting. She stared at the door of the hospital a moment then summoned all her courage and pushed the doors open. The room was empty except for a single nurse who, when she saw Tristany, merely lowered her head. Tristany had been to this hospital before and knew exactly where to go. Numbly she made her way to the back of the hospital where she saw her older brother, Aniki, sitting on a bench outside the morgue. At the sound of her footsteps Aniki raised his head.

"Tris." With one word Aniki had managed to convey exactly what had happened. He stood, gently grabbed his sister's hand, and led her into the morgue. It was empty except for a single table in the middle of the room. Kneeling on the floor was Lea's mother, her body racking with sobs. Tristany walked to the head of the table and slowly slid the sheet away from the face. She swallowed hard when she saw her friend's pale face and the rope burn around her neck.

"Lea." She muttered dropping the sheet. "No, this isn't right. This can't be happening!" Tristany screamed clutching at her head as her legs gave out. Aniki watched sympathetically and kneeled beside his hurting sister.

"Why? Why, God? Why Lea?" Tristany beat her fists against the white linoleum until her hands were raw and bloody. When his sister began to settle down, Aniki placed a hand on her back and started to rub small soothing circles into it.

"Why?" Tristany sniffed, the tears flowed freely now. "Why take her from us in this way?" Finally after Tristany's tears stopped flowing so freely Aniki stood and said quietly, "Come on sis, time to go home." Tristany followed without protest, too deeply in shock to fully understand what was going on.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is chapter two. Gosh this made me cry writing it I feel so bad for doing this to my OC. Thank God Italy pops in from time to time or Tris would have starved herself. I wonder why Italy can get Tris to eat though… I know, I know, I'm the author so I should know this stuff but I'm more or less making this up as I go along. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Help Elsewhere

"-She needs serious help, Aniki! Why can't you see that?" Tristany was sitting on her bed in the dark, knees pulled up to her chest, hugging a pillow.

"What she needs is to have time to adjust. Her life has been shaken to its foundations! She needs time to heal! What would help her most is if you could just leave her alone!" A loud slap could be heard even from behind the closed door.

"Don't tell me what Tristany needs. She is _my_ daughter and I will decide what is best for her." There was a moment of silence then Aniki said, "You don't really care about Tris, do you mom? You just care about proving that you're right."

A while later a knock sound at Tristany's door.

"Tris? Someone's here to see you." Aniki called opening his sister's door when he didn't receive an answer. "Just let me know when you're done." He muttered to the visitor.

"I will do that, grazie." Said Feliciano Vargas as he walked into Tristany's room. To call it a mess would be both inaccurate and an understatement. Place carefully on the floor were untouched meals that added up to about a week's worth as well as several dying bouquets of flowers strewn about creating a minefield. Feliciano carefully stepped over the food and flora until he stood beside his friend.

"Hey Tris." He whispered sitting down beside her. Without turning to look at him she flopped onto his lap and closed her eyes.

"Are you doing better?" Tristany shook her head.

"Worse?" Another shake of the head.

"The same?" A nod then a shrug.

"How long since you've last spoken?" Silence.

"A month?" She shook her head.

"Longer?" A nod.

"Three months?" Another nod.

"Why won't you say anything? We can't help you unless you tell us." Still silence.

"I heard your mom and dad are planning to transfer you to Hetalia World Academy. Have you heard of it?" Tristany nodded. "Yeah, it's a good school. Kids from all over the world attend school there. You'll fit right in and I go there of course." Feliciano smiled down at Tris. "And who knows maybe you'll start talking again." A slight smile flitted at the edges of Tris's mouth. She wasn't planning on ever talking again and it wasn't like it would matter once she died of starvation. Feliciano picked up the most recent plate of food, slightly warm pizza and let Tris smell it. Her mouth began to fill with saliva and her stomach growled like a ferocious beast.

"Come on, you know you want some. Here, we'll start with little bits." In that manor, coaxing and prodding, Feliciano managed to get Tris to eat the pizza, a huge win for him. When Tris was on her back, eyes half shut, digesting her food, the Italian stood and left the room.

"She ate one piece of pizza." He reported to Aniki who smiled in relief.

"Thanks Feli, don't know what I'd do without you. Is she still not talking?"

"Yeah."

"What's the deal with that I wonder?"

"The doctors haven't been able to figure it out yet?"

"No. Tris has gone to several therapy sessions but she won't talk to them no matter what they do or say to her." Feliciano's eyes darkened.

"I'm worried about her, if she doesn't turn around soon she might not be able to." Aniki leaned against the wall.

"I know but our mother doesn't care about Tris she just doesn't want to be branded a bad mother because one of her children is catatonic and mentally unstable."

"Is that what they say it is now? Last month it was mental anxiety and slight schizophrenia. We both know that the doctors don't have a clue about what's wrong with her, the only one who knows is Tristany herself and she's not going to tell us." Feliciano said, staring at Tristany's shut bedroom door.

"I know, right now our best hope is Hetalia World Academy but if that doesn't help..." Aniki trailed off at a loss for words unable to articulate the horrors that would befall his sister.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here, ladies and germs, is chapter three. I got done with it sooner than I expected. It's not nearly as intense as the previous two and it jumps around a lot but I think it explains some stuff. If you have any questions or suggestions for plot twists PM me or review. I hope you like it!**

Chapter 3: Hetalia World Academy

Tristany Sinclair stood in her immaculately clean room for the last time as no one had bothered to tell her anything she didn't know if she would ever come back.

"Tris, it's time to go, the car's ready and you can't miss your plane," Called Tris's father. Without a word Tris turned and picked up her pet bird Malcolm's cage and headed out of her room. Aniki was waiting outside Tris's room holding her backpack.

"Ready?" he asked. Tris was silent so Malcolm answered in her stead.

"Ready to see Feli, but don't want to go." Tris nodded her head in agreement. Generally Malcolm was able to express what Tris was feeling and thinking quite well so, in a way, Tris wasn't as mute as she acted.

"You'll like it." Aniki said to Tris in an attempt to engage his sister and ignore Malcolm.

"Don't want to go." Malcolm pouted.

"They have great food." Aniki shot back. Tris allowed herself a small smile as she, her brother, and Malcolm walked out to the car where Tris's parents were waiting.

It was necessary to take a plane to Hetalia World Academy because, with some many high profile students, the school's location was a well-kept secret. So it was that when Tris and Malcolm stepped off the plane alone they were in unfamiliar surroundings. The terminal was very public and crowded so Tristany had difficulty making it to her pickup point, however, the man who was supposed to pick her up didn't come until three hours later.

"Tristany Sinclair?" Tris looked up to see a man with slicked back long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes in a well fitted suit. Tris watched him a moment then nodded her head.

"And Malcolm!" Malcolm chirped from Tris's shoulder.

"Please come with me, I'm to take you to the Academy and Headmaster Vargas."

"Don't follow a potato eater!" Malcolm warned as Tris stood and, pulling her luggage behind her, followed the man outside where a black car waited. Luckily for Tris inside was Feliciano, grinning like a madman.

"Ciao Tris!" he said when Tris slid into the car beside him. "I'm glad you're here." He grinned brightly.

"Italian." Grumbled Malcolm as he was forced off his master's shoulder, his favorite perch, when Tris flopped into Feliciano's lap, a habit Tris had formed in the last three months. Feliciano chatted with Malcolm and talked at Tris while stroking her hair like she was a cat all the way to the academy.

Hetalia World Academy was founded by Feliciano's forty-something grandfather. Children from all over the world were offered both a safe place, good education, and the opportunity to meet foreign people, which was partly how Tris met Feli.

_When Tris was about five and Feli was six, Tris's brother was admitted to HWA. At the opening ceremony, a bored Tris snuck away into the garden, a magnificent thing filled with every kind of flower, a pond with fish, and a hedge maze. It was in this maze that Feli and Tris first met. Tris had managed to find the gazebo at the center of the maze but in so doing found herself completely lost. Once she realized she had no idea where the exit was she became afraid and began to cry. It was in that state that a six-year-old Feliciano Vargas stumbled upon Tristany. Feliciano crouched down next to Tristany and waited until she noticed him._

"_W-Who are you?" she asked._

"_I'm Feliciano Vargas and you are very pretty but how about you stop crying?" Feliciano looked at Tristany with large brown eyes that would make a puppy envious._

"_O-Okay." Tris wiped her tears away as Feliciano helped her up.  
"Hey, what's your name? I can't just call you 'pretty girl'." Feliciano said as he started to lead Tris through the maze. Tris blushed slightly._

"_I'm Tristany Sinclair." Feliciano tilted his head in thought._

"_Do you have a brother named Aniki?"_

"_Uh-huh." Tris said nodding her head so much that some of her carefully pinned curls come out._

"_Yeah, I know your family. You live near Greece." By this time they had reached the garden again and Tris basked in the sun's light and the open space._

"_Thank you for leading me out of there. I thought I would be stuck in there forever." Tris said as she hugged her guide. Right at that moment a man and a little boy, who looked like copy of Feliciano, entered the garden._

"_Ah, Feli, made a new friend I see," Said the man crouching down next to Tris and Feliciano._

"_Si Grandpa." Feli chirped as his grandfather rubbed his head approvingly._

"_And who might you be?" Feli's grandpa asked Tristany._

"_My name is Tristany Sinclair." Tris said shyly. Mr. Vargas smiled kindly and gently took Tris's hand, kissing it._

"_A pleasure to meet you Miss Sinclair," He said. When he smiled his eyes sparkled like Feliciano's. The little boy by Mr. Vargas's leg, all but forgotten about, tugged at Feli's grandfather's pant leg._

"_What is it Lovino?" Feli's grandfather asked, his attention diverted from Tris. The little boy, Lovino, pointed to the maze. "Right, right. Well, Lovi wants to go inside the maze. I'll see you and your lady friend later Feli." Headmaster Vargas said as he and his other grandson entered the maze._

"_Ciao Grandpa, ciao fratello!" Feliciano called after his brother and grandfather. "Come on Tris, let's go to the reception! I want some pasta!" The Italian declared as he led the way inside the school to where the food and pasta were._

Tris was standing outside Headmaster Vargas's office waiting to be called in. The last time she had been to the school was when she first met Feli, the day her then eight-year-old brother had been accepted to HWA. Tris remembered that day fondly. Her mother had spent an hour carefully pinning Tris's blonde hair up so it curled down around her shoulders, making her look like Shirley Temple. Tris had worn a green dress and Aniki had been forced into a suit, which Tris had enjoyed watching since her brother hated formal wear of any kind.

Headmaster Vargas's door opened and out streamed three boys in the HWA uniform, one had white hair and red eyes, an albino with a yellow bird riding on his head, one had brown hair and lovely green eyes, and one had longish blonde hair and blue eyes that glittered with awkward humor that gave Tris the impression that most of his thoughts needed to be censured.

"Next time Bonnevoy, Beilschmidt, Carrideo, try not to be sent to my office." Headmaster Vargas called after the boys.

"Yes Headmaster," Said the albino with a German accent.

"Oui Headmaster," Said the blonde in a French accent.

"Si Headmaster," Said the brunette with a Spanish accent. It was the blonde French boy who noticed Tris first. Instantly he was in front of her holding a rose he pulled from nowhere and handing it to her.

"Bonjour, my name is Francis. Who might you be?" Before Tris could move passed Francis the German and Spanish boy were also there, the German on her left, Francis on her right, and the Spaniard before her.

"Francis, who is this lovely lady? You weren't going to keep her all to yourself were you?" asked the German boy.

"Si," put in the Spanish boy, "it's polite to share one such as this."

"I wasn't keeping her to myself!" Francis exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air, creating an escape path for Tris. While the three boys were arguing about whether or not Francis had been hoarding her, Tris slipped into Headmaster Vargas's office. Once she shut the door, she leaned against it and sighed in relief.

"Ran into then Bad Touch Trio did you?" Asked Headmaster Vargas. Tris nodded.

"Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio are a bit of a handful but are good kids at heart. Take a seat Miss Sinclair." Tris took the only seat in front of the Headmaster's desk. "I am sorry about your friend Lea. Feli has told me you are not at your best and I wish for you to know the staff and I will do everything we can to help you." Throughout the speech Tris remained silent. "Feli has also told me that you refuse to talk to anyone. Why won't you say anything?" Headmaster Vargas let his question hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "You, like everyone else, will attend seven classes; math, science, history, PE, home economics, art, and music. The first class starts at seven thirty and the last class ends at two o'clock. Here is a map and your schedule. Your luggage and your bird Malcolm should be in your dorm room by now. Here also is your key you'll be in room 317. I hope you rest well, you have a big day tomorrow. Good luck." Headmaster Vargas said as he handed Tris the various items

Tris exited the Headmaster's office and made her way to where her dorm should be. Once she found the girl's wing it was easy to locate room 317. Tris inserted her key into the lock and opened the door. Her room was large with a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. Her luggage was at the foot of the bed and Malcolm was out of his cage. Malcolm flew onto Tris's headboard and began talking about the rudeness of cage handlers. Tris lay down on her bed, closed her eyes, and drifted to sleep, not wanting the morning to come.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is basically most of Tris's first day at HWA. It's kind of boring but it needs to be here because the stage is still being set. It's also super long because I just couldn't stop typing. So the next chapter will be about the rest of Tris's day (art and music class), because this chapter is so long the next one will be a whole lot shorter.**

**Forgive me, I'm not doing accents so you have to add them in your own minds.**

**Hmm… is there anything else…?**

**Thanks to ****softballqueen219**** who kept talking with me about this story and what she thought about Tris. That really helped a lot.**

**Ideas and plot twists are welcome.**

**Ahem, and the next chapter might be written and upload sooner if you review.**

**Hint hint, nudge nudge.**

Chapter 4: New Girl

Tris opened her eyes at exactly seven o'clock. She was in no hurry to get to class and besides if she skipped breakfast she would have plenty of time to get ready for and to class. She got up and did all the morning things you usually do: brushed her teeth, got dressed, after several minutes of deliberation grabbed her messenger satchel instead of her backpack, and drank as much water as she could before leaving her room.

Even before the accident Tris drank lots of water and the kids from her private school used to call her Ocean Girl or Mermaid, and not in a mean way, most of them meant it as a complement, but after the accident and after Tris stopped speaking and eating she drank huge amounts of water to stop her stomach from grumbling about the lack of food. She knew it killed her brother and Feliciano to see her in the state she was now so Tris drank the water as much for them as she did herself.

She glanced up at the wall where a large clock hung. It was 7:15. She needed to head to class.

On the way down the halls she had time to think, something she generally tried _not_ to do as her thoughts typically chose to wander down dark roads and this time was really no different. Tris thought of her friend Lea.

Lea and Tris had met not long before Tris and Feliciano had met. Lea lived on the same island as Tris and they went to the same school. Their parents were friends as well (Lea's dad was an oceanographer and Tris's dad was a scientist specializing in marine mammals while Lea and Tris's moms both loved BBC movies and television shows) so needless to say Tris and Lea saw quite a lot of each other and swiftly became friends. Ehen Lea died Tris, felt like part of her died as well.

Once her brother had brought her home from the hospital, Tris went straight to her room and shut her door. She didn't want to have to stay behind while Lea moved on. She went over to her desk and pulled open one of the drawers. She reached inside and pulled out a sharp knife her father had bought for her several years ago. She had been about to slit her wrist when her door opened and Feliciano was there. He stood in the doorway a moment, taking in the scene of Tristany and the knife, then rushed over to his friend and knocked the knife from her hand. Tris just sat there staring at the knife on the floor, not having enough energy to reach down and grab it. Feliciano sat down beside her slowly, like she was some sort of unstable bomb that might go off at any time. Feli slowly put first one arm then the other around Tris and hugged her.

"It's going to be okay." He said and Tris knew he meant it, and, to an extent, Tris agreed with him. Everything would be okay once she no longer existed.

After that Tris tried several more times to end her life through various ways, some too graphic to be described here, but, one way or another something always happened to stop her (generally interruptions by Feli or her brother). Tris wondered why she could never just pick up a gun and shoot herself or something. The only thing she could think of was that she didn't have enough courage to go out like that. So she was stuck with slowly starving herself. The only problem with that though was that sometimes her resolve cracked and she would eat something or Feli would manage to get her to swallow a few bits of something. Either way she managed to eat enough for her body to maintain all her systems.

Tris pulled her mind from its dark path as she arrived outside her first room's door, math class. Joy. Tris was okay at math but it had never been her favorite subject and when the alphabet was added things didn't get any easier. She peered into the room to see that she had made it right on time. All the desks were full except for two, one presumably hers, and the teacher was at the head of the room about to start the class. When he saw her, the teacher waved at Tris to come inside. Tris slunk in feeling somewhat guilty, the feeling intensifying with the eyes of the class on her.

"This is our new student, Tristany Sinclair. She comes from a small independent island near Greece known as Atlantis. Please treat her well." There were muttering going around the room, the loudest being from the three boys Tris had met outside Headmaster Vargas's office. "You can take the seat next to Feliciano, Miss Sinclair." The teacher said. As Tris walked past the Bad Touch Trio, Gilbert let out a wolf whistle, Francis said something in French, and Antonio smiled like a hungry dog looking at a juicy bone.

When she reached her seat, Feliciano turned to smile at her and squeezed her hand. The teacher was about to begin teaching them about an easy way to identify a trapezoid, or rather how he said it, "How to trap a zoid," when the door to the class flew open and a teenage boy with sharp blue eyes and slicked back blonde hair raced in. The teacher crossed his arms in annoyance.  
"Mr. Beilschmidt you are late." The teacher had gift for stating the obvious.

"I'm sorry sir." The boy said bowing his head.

"Take your seat." Said the teacher turning his back on the late student. Beilschmidt made his way down the aisle and took the desk next to Tristany and Feliciano.

"Ciao, Ludwig," Feliciano greeted his friend.

"Morning Feli," Ludwig said trying very hard not to look at Tristany or give his friend the what-the-heck-just-happened-and-who-is-this-girl look. Feliciano just grinned at the German.

Tris stood outside her history class a moment making sure all the other students were inside. They were but where was the teacher? Just as she thought that question a man in a blue shirt, dark pants, black gloves, knee high boots, blood red hair, shocking green eyes, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth walked passed Tris into the classroom. He looked over his shoulder to see Tris warily eyeing him. He smiled and motioned for her to come inside.

"Hello there. I'm Mr. Kirkland, your history teacher. Come on, I don't bite… hard." Mr. Kirkland said with a thick Scottish accent. The last part produced laughter from the Bad Touch Trio who Tris, again, shared a class with. An English boy with blonde hair, green eyes, and very large eyebrows grumbled about the teacher probably having a nip of beer or whiskey before class. Mr. Kirkland was instantly beside the boy. He tackled him and pulled his arms up behind his back at an uncomfortable angle.

"What was that Arthur?" He growled as he placed one foot on the small of Arthur's back.

"Ow! Nothing." He cried. Mr. Kirkland kept the boy's arms behind him a minute then let the smaller boy go.

"That's what I thought." He said as he walked back to the blackboard and turned to Tris. "Miss Sinclair you can sit between my little upstart of a brother and Gilbert." An odd laugh was heard as this point as Tris was forced to sit next to the German. Soon after, a note landed on Tris's desk.

_Hey._ It said.

Tris pushed it to the side. Another one landed on her desk.

_Can you read English?_

Tris pushed this note over next to the first one. Another note drifted onto her desk.

_No?_ Was that glee she heard in the writing? _Do you want to eat lunch with me?_

Tris wondered why Gilbert would ask her through a note if he thought she couldn't read English. Tris's answer came through the next note that was written in Greek with the same question. Tris turned to face Gilbert. He looked at her hopefully. Tris shook her head no. Before he could write more notes, Mr. Kirkland called on Gilbert to answer a question, which he got wrong.

Home economics was taught by none other than Feliciano's own seventeen-year-old brother, Lovino Vargas. Lovino was not a very patient teacher. He was the kind of person who wanted something done right the first time and wanted it done quickly. Because his class was rather small, each person got to work on their own.

"Today you will be making food that represents your home country." He indicated the back of the room where, behind a large steel door, the ingredients were. "You have one hour."

Tris followed the rest of her classmates into the storage room and quickly found the ingredients she would need to make flatbread and nakudash, a kind of chocolate pudding that could be eaten by itself or spread on flatbread. She felt the teacher watching her as she kneaded the bread dough and made the nakudash. Why was he watching her? The idea that he was Feliciano's brother so he probably knew everything Feli knew didn't occur to Tris.

Several minutes before the bell was due to ring, Tris was done. The flatbread smelled like heaven and she wanted so badly to eat it but she was going to stick to her plan no matter what. Nothing else had worked so far and she wasn't going to give up before she saw Lea again, be it in heaven or in hell.

She didn't notice Mr. Lovino until he had cut off a slice of flatbread and dipped it in the nakudash. He then popped it into his mouth and chewed. An odd expression came over his face that looked suspiciously like pleasure. He moved away saying, "Next time add more sugar." Tris's fists shook at her side. How dare he tell her how to make her nation's food! He had probably never been to her country. He couldn't know how sweet or bitter nakudash was supposed to be. But then doubt descended on Tris. He could be right. How could she find out? Tris stared at the nakudash in horror. She would have to eat some. If looks could kill, the poor little defenseless pudding would have been on its way to the morgue.

Tris picked up a spoon and viciously stabbed the pudding and ripped out a mouthful of the stuff. She had been right when she thought her food would be heaven. Mr. Lovino had been wrong, the pudding was perfect. It wasn't until she saw him smirking at her that Tris realized he had tricked her into eating her own food. She could have killed him. But she kept her peace and instead inhaled deeply through her nose.

Feliciano had probably asked him to do it. The Italian could be quite devious when he wanted to be. Tris sighed. There was nothing she could do about it now, she wasn't going to vomit it back up, as it would be a waste of energy. Instead, she would avoid Feli for a little while. She smiled to herself. Feliciano was a sweetheart who genuinely cared about her but she would still make him feel bad about tricking her. She too could be devious.

Tris, unsurprisingly, skipped lunch, waiting instead in the art room. Tris was so busy looking at the art she didn't notice the legendary Bad Touch Trio come in.

"Hey," Gilbert said pointing an accusatory finger at her, "why wouldn't you eat lunch with me?"

Why is he making such a big deal about this, Tris wondered? So what? So what if I told him no. Why does it matter so much to him?

Tris of course kept silent. This was not a smart move as it angered the German. Gilbert aggressively pushed Tris's back against the wall.

"Why don't you say something?" He demanded, eyes dark with anger. Francis and Antonio exchanged glances but didn't say anything. Gilbert raised his hand about to strike Tris when two arms encircled Gilbert's waist and hoisted him into the air and up and over Mr. Kirkland's head. The history teacher body slammed Gilbert into the floor.

"Gil!" Francis and Antonio yelled in unison, rushing to their fallen comrade's side.

"Never attempt to hurt a lassie." The Scottish man said to Gilbert. He turned his attention to Tris and held out a hand to her. "Are you okay?" Tris nodded but didn't take his hand.

"I couldn't help but notice that you refuse to speak. Why is that?" Mr. Kirkland waited but wasn't annoyed when he didn't get a response. "It's okay, you don't have to talk if you don't want to. But don't be afraid to say what's on your mind." Just as Mr. Kirkland turned to leave Feliciano and Ludwig entered the room.

"Ve? Tris! What happened?" Feliciano asked racing over to his friend and checking her for injuries.

"These boys tried to hurt her." Mr. Kirkland said as he pointed disdainfully at the three boys in the middle of the room. Francis helped Gilbert up.

"We would never hurt a girl." Francis said sincerely looking Mr. Kirkland, Feliciano, Ludwig, and Tristany in the eyes. Mr. Kirkland shook his head.

"Maybe you weren't trying to hurt her but it sure looked that way." He said. Then turning to Ludwig he said, "Keep an eye on your brother will you?" Mr. Kirkland moved closer to Ludwig and whispered in his ear, "I think he might have a thing for her. Make sure _nothing_ happens to her." Ludwig nodded but he had to wonder why a teacher cared so much about one student, and a new one at that. He needed to know more about this Tristany.

"Get out of here Gil." Ludwig ordered.

"But bruder, I didn't try to hurt her!" Gilbert exclaimed.

"Go." Growled Ludwig, pointing at the door. Tail between his legs, Gilbert and his friends left the art room. Tristany smiled slightly at Ludwig and inclined her head to him in thanks. Tris wandered away from Feli and Ludwig to once again observe the art.

"So what's her story?" Ludwig asked with no preamble once Tris was out of earshot. Feliciano blinked in surprise a moment then a small smile played over his lips.

"Why? Do you like her?" Ludwig blushed.

"No! I barely even know her! It's just she seems so…" Ludwig trailed off unsure of how to say it. Feliciano nodded.

"I know what you mean. She is different. I'm going to warn you Luddy, Tris's story is not a happy one. Do you still want to hear it?" Ludwig nodded.

"Tell me."

"As you wish." Feliciano sat down on the nearest desktop. "I have known Tris since we were children, in fact we met here at HWA. I found her lost in the middle of the hedge maze and led her out." Ludwig sat down opposite Feli unsure of when the sad part of the story would begin.

"Several months ago, her best friend, her 'anam cara', her 'soul friend', committed suicide. Tris was a wreak after that. On the first night, I found her in her room about to slit her wrists. Luckily I was able to stop her. She has made several more attempts at suicide. She's taken pills and tried to drown herself. That one didn't work out that well since she is a ridiculously good swimmer. Her brother found a gun in her room one time, it was unfired and wasn't loaded, and I don't think she's the type that would shoot herself. Now she tries starving herself, with mixed results."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well as she is still alive, she obviously hasn't succeeded."

"Oh."

"I am able to get her to eat something from time to time and I know it annoys her as all get out. I know why she's doing all of this. She wants to see Lea again."

"So she would kill herself just to see her friend again?"

"Yeah. Lea wasn't just Tris's friend, she might as well have been a sister." Ludwig still didn't quite get it. If his brother died he wouldn't try to kill himself to see him again but then, Tris was a girl, and girls were different.

"So we need to keep a close watch on her?" Feliciano's eyebrows lifted at "we."

"Yes. She needs to be monitored 24/7 if possible."

"Why won't she talk?" Feli shrugged.

"Haven't a clue. Not even the doctors know. Supposedly she's on meds but I doubt she's taking them, flushing them down the toilet more like." Ludwig grinned her could picture Tris doing something like that. She seemed like the suspicious type but maybe he could get to know her a little. He sure wasn't going to let this mute girl become his brother's next victim. Thinking this almost made him feel heroic.

'**Anam cara' does actually mean 'soul friend' in Gaelic.**

**I totally made up nakudash but I sort of wish was real because now I really want some.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yay, I got another chapter done, good for me. I'm sorry if this seems short but I warned you in the previous chapter so don't blame me it actually turned out to be longer than I expected.**

**I would like to thank JustMakeLeftTurns for reviewing my story and for chatting with me.**

**This story is going to be a bit of a bumpy ride as it is my first time doing a story in this genre but I will do my best.**

**If any of you feel I am doing a bad job on any of the characters (except my OC) please let me know how you think I can fix it. If it doesn't mess with the story I will try to do it.**

**Thank you. *bows***

Chapter 5: Art, Music, and Pasta

Tris completely spaced out during art class trying to understand why Gilbert had made such a big deal about her telling him no. Even though she thought for a whole hour the only conclusion she could reach was that he never took no for an answer. Her first day and already her list of people to avoid was forming.

By the time music class rolled around Tris was comfortable enough that she didn't wait outside the classroom until everyone was inside. Tris strolled in and took the seat farthest from Gilbert thought it meant sitting next to Feli which shattered her plan to avoid him, however, as it was a lesser evil Tris chose that option.

The class was taught by an Austrian man who gave Tris the impression that he cared more about the idea of music and less about the art involved. He stood before the class waiting for silence but when it did not come be reached beneath the music stand and pulled out a miniature fog horn. A deafening noise filled the small classroom causing temporary deafness to nearly all the students.

"Are we all here? Good. We shall begin then. What is music? Anyone?" No one raised their hands which meant that the teacher got to pick someone. "Why don't you tell us what you think it is Mr. Bonnevoy." Francis smiled as he addressed the teacher.

"Music is love."

"Okay, anyone else? Mr. Beilschmidt." The teacher turned to Gilbert.

"The slow stuff is a waste of time. Who cares about Mozart or Beethoven? Now the awesome stuff like Skillet's Monster, System of a Down, and things like that, those are worth my awesome time." The teacher sighed and drug his hand down his face, it was going to be a long year for him.

"This class is not only meant to teach you about the history behind music but it is to also help you understand it." By this time of course no one was listening to him and no one really cared.

Back in her room Tris sat on her bed listening to Malcolm recount his rather uneventful day. Tris stood and crossed to where her bags were and began to paw through them. She found what she was looking for at the bottom of her bag in a black case. She pulled it out and went into the living room. Just as she had sat down on the sofa and opened the case a knock sounded at her door.

"Tris? Tris are you here?" Feliciano called. Tris rolled her eyes. Why was he here? She walked over to the door and opened it. Feliciano, with his shadow of a friend Ludwig, entered Tris's room.

"Just wanted to check up on you." Feliciano said in answer to the obvious question in Tris's gaze. A sudden light came into his eyes. "Hey, I have an idea. How about I make you dinner since I'm here." His pineapple eating grin was set in place. Tris narrowed her eyes and turned away from her friend in annoyance. She stalked back to the sofa and put forth an effort to ignore her unwanted guests. Suddenly Malcolm flew out of Tris's room and stopped in mid-flight, staring at Ludwig in horror.

"A potato eater!" he cried in warning as he flew over to his master and landed protectively on her shoulder. Ludwig watched Malcolm warily and called to Feliciano, "What's the deal with the bird? I thought your grandpa had a strict no pets rule."

"He does but that doesn't stop your brother and a few other bringing pets here and Malcolm would have followed Tris anyway."

"A loyal pet."

"Tris is his whole world."

"If she has him why would she need us?"

"Malcolm has been known to have a bit of a potty mouth when Tris isn't around. If he had been there when you brother was um… he would have been cussed out of the room." Ludwig smiled at the mental picture of his brother being chased out of a room by a foul mouthed bird.

"Open up wide for the chu chu train." Feliciano said holding a forkful of pasta before Tris's stubbornly closed mouth. "Come on, open up." Tris shook her head. "Please? Just one bite?" Another shake of the head. "Okay, how about I use an airplane instead." He then attempted to mimic an airplane's engine and failed miserably. Tris gazed at Feli balefully then turned to Ludwig with a he-can't-be-serious-can-he look. Ludwig sighed and took the fork from his friend.

"She's never going to eat if you keep treating her like a baby." Both Tris and Feliciano looked at Ludwig in surprise. Feliciano shrugged.

"If you think you can do better, than by all means." Ludwig gazed at Tris intensely, blue eyes boring into blue eyes.

"You need to eat." He said holding the pasta under Tris's nose. Tris turned her head away like a sulky child. Ludwig reached forward and clamped his forefinger and thumb around Tris's nose, shutting off her access to air. "If you want air, you need to eat." Tris's mouth closed even tighter but Ludwig was unperturbed, after all she'd have to breathe sometime.

Tris's cracked first. After lasting nearly several minutes she couldn't take it any longer, her mouth flew open of its own accord and as soon as Ludwig saw it do this he stuffed the pasta into Tris's mouth.

"Cover her mouth Feli." He ordered as Tris prepared to spit the food back out.

"But-"

"Do it." Feliciano winced as he felt warm pasta press against his hand.

"Chew." Ludwig commanded. Tris's eyes held defiance but after being deprived of air again the defiance drained away to be replaced by pleading. When that got her nowhere, Tris gave in and began to chew.

"Swallow." Tris meekly did as she was told and swallowed the food. "Feli take your hand away." Feli obeyed. "Open your mouth." Ludwig, pleased that Tris really had swallowed her food and not hidden it under her tongue, released her nose. Tris sucked in air for all she was worth and glared at the German.

Ludwig picked up Tris's plate and stabbed another forkful of pasta. He held out the fork and plate, an odd smile playing over his face. The smile seemed to say, "You can do this for yourself or I can do it for you. Your choice." Not looking at him, Tris took the plate.

After dinner Tris, Ludwig, and Feli were sitting on the couch. Feli was talking about how if everyone shared a love of pasta there would be no wars while Ludwig watched Tris, sitting as far from them as she could get, absentmindedly stroking the small black case in her lap.

"Feli, what's that?" Ludwig asked pointing at the object Tris obviously treasured.

"I don't know but I'm pretty sure it belonged to Lea. Occasionally when I used to visit Tris I would find her sitting on her bed stroking it like she is now or looking at what lies inside but as to what that could be, I haven't the foggiest." Ludwig stared at the case wondering what on earth could be inside that would justify Tris's devotion.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Not to Ask or Reason Why

Ian Kirkland sat in the teacher's lounge, feet up on the nearest table. He took a long pull on his cigarette and closed his eyes.

"Shame on you Ian, do you even know how many laws you're breaking?" Ian looked up to see his fellow teacher, Lovino Vargas, standing before him.

"No, but it's probably only a few handful." Lovino grinned as he sat backwards on the chair before Ian.

"Well enough of that goody-goody stuff, share." Lovino held out a hand for some of the death sticks. The Scottish teacher groaned and handed over several cigarettes.

"You're killing me man." Ian groaned.

"Shut up you wimp." Lovino laughed. "Oh yeah, by the way, I'm kicking Arthur out of my class, the classroom can't survive another one of his 'experiments'." Ian chuckled evilly.

"About time, he shouldn't have been allowed in the first place."

"I completely agree. I'm so relieved and I know the other students are too. One time Arthur tried to force feed Alfred some 'scones' if they could even be called that." Lovino shuddered at the memory.

"You know you don't have to talk useless chatter. You can tell me why you're really here." Ian remarked offhandedly. Lovino sat back in surprise nearly falling off his chair. Once he got over his shock, he laughed humorlessly.

"You got me." He held up his hands in an "I surrender" motion. "I was talking with Feli a little while ago and he mentioned that potato bastard number two was getting a little rough with Sinclair." Ian exhaled smoke like some great dragon.

"So?"

"He also said that you swooped in and saved her."

"And what if I did? What's it to you?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I don't particularly like that kid, she spends way too much time around my kid brother… but you don't seem like the benevolent type to me. So why would you waste your time helping out the new kid?" It was a long time before Ian answered.

"Why should innocence have to suffer?" This caught Lovino off-guard.

"Excuse me?"

"Why should innocence have to suffer?" Ian repeated. "Why should those who are weak be pushed around or taken advantage of by those who are strong? Why should a girl who has given up on life, who refuses to talk, who wishes to die, be victimized by some person she doesn't even know? What gives Gilbert the right to hurt Tristany? What has she ever done to him?" As Ian continued to speak, his voice grew louder and louder until he was nearly shouting.

"What gives you the right to help her? Shouldn't you just let things take their natural course?" Lovino asked coldly. Ian snorted.

"If your brother was in Tristany's place, about to be hurt by someone stronger than him, would you have stood by and watched it happen or would you have killed whoever tried to lay a hand on your brother?" Lovino's fists clenched at the question.

"I see your point."

"Tristany isn't going to stand up for herself, so someone else needs to."

"And I suppose you're that someone else?" Lovino asked tiredly.

"No, I have a feeling that I'm not. But until that person is there for her, I'll stand in the gap with you, Feliciano, and Ludwig Beilschmidt."

"Me? What's makes you think I'm standing in the gap for her? I already told you I don't like her." Ian smiled.

"I know, but you're not the only one who talks with Feliciano. He told me about you tricking Tris into eating her own food without him even asking you." Lovino's face burned.

"Th-That was just because she looked like she was going to faint!"

"Liar." Lovino crossed his arms and sulked. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, standing up for those who need it. If only we could get her professional help…"

"She's already had all the professional help she could ever want. Her parents sent her to some of the best therapists in the world and yet the results were all the same, she refused to participate at all. Of course it wasn't all her fault. I got an e-mail from her brother and he said that the latest tests suggest that, due to the large amount of mental trauma Tris went through, her brain made her "forget" how to speak. According to the doctors if Tris feels she or someone else is in danger that may bring death, her mind might snap out it but Aniki won't let them test their theory." Ian was silent, thinking.

"That would make sense but they wouldn't put her through that sort of thing again would they?"

"Apparently and that's why Aniki put his foot down. He reasons that Tris has been scarred enough and there is the chance that she will start speaking when she feels safe."

"So how do we make her feel safe?" Lovino shrugged.

"Don't ask me, I'm not a psychologist, I'm just the messenger. Only Tris really knows that and right now she can't exactly tell us." Ian mulled over this new information, turning it and looking at it from every conceivable angle he would think of.

"Come on, enough of this serious stuff. I didn't come to find you just because I wanted to have a depressing talk. Apparently Roderick's music class didn't go well so all us teachers are going to go drinking to cheer him up and you are coming." Ian laughed.

"Like I would say no to a drink or two?"

"Or five more like." Lovino chuckled as he and Ian walked to the door.

"Or five." Ian conceded.

**Okay ever since I posted chapter five I wanted to have a scene with someone other than Tris and here it is. It also explains some of Scotland's motivation for helping Tris.**

**I'm sorry if some of you aren't happy about me choosing "Ian" to be Scotland's name but since he's a fan made character he doesn't have just one name, he has like eight different ones since we can't decide. I chose Ian because I think it fits this version of Scotland.**

**I'm going on vacation tomorrow (Yay! But I still have homework so that sucks one of the curses of being homeschool it follows you everywhere****) so I probably won't have access to the Internet since we're going to Cape Disappointment (catchy name eh?) and the only Internet there is at the occasional Starbucks or McDonalds. But I'll try to write a little while I'm down there and if I can update I will.**

**As always, because I am a sadistic person, plot twists are welcome! I'm fighting a major battle with writer's block so any random idea would help.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Departed's Journal

Tristany gazed at the pill bottle in her hand. She was kneeling in her bathroom on a Saturday morning, having survived her first week of Hetalia World Academy. When the doctor had given Tris the pills, he said they would help her, so why didn't they? She shook two pills out of the bottle; they looked like skittles without the trademark S stamped on one side. The pills were new and her mother had called in quite a few favors to get them but they never helped.

Tris shakily picked up the pills and turned them, inspecting the familiar surface. She wondered what they were made of, some unpronounceable substance probably. The doctors who had made the pills were full of something and it wasn't answers or marvelous cures. At first she had taken the pills, but they made her brain go all foggy and Tris had trouble thinking straight. Soon she reduced the amount of pills she took and she the fog in her mind began to dissipate but she remained "unwell."

Tris considered taking what remained of the bottle in one fell swoop that would cure one problem for her. But then she would have a foggy mind until the pills did her in and that arguably could be worse, also there was still the chance someone would walk in on her and take her to the hospital before the pills could finish their grisly work. She made her decision. She carefully inclined the bottle and smiled slightly at the satisfying plops the pills made as they broke the surface of the toilet water. Tristany would see Lea again, without a doubt, but not like that. She would see Lea through her own means on her time. Perhaps, in a twisted way her friend would even be proud of her, after all it took an insane amount of self-control to slowly starve yourself as Tris was doing.

A knock sounded at her door. Tris stood, flushed the toilet, and tossed the empty pill bottle into the garbage before she went to answer the door.

"Why do _I_ have to be here?" Gilbert whined as Francis knocked on Tris's door.

"Because you were a jerk to her and if you really are as awesome as you claim you should have no problem apologizing." Antonio explained for the tenth time.

"Oui, you were a big fat jerk to her for no apparent reason. The natural thing to do is to apologize."

"I am awesome and it wasn't my fault her womanly charms charmed me." Antonio laughed uproariously.

"I agree she is a pretty tomato but she's not a woman yet."

"She might kill you if she hears you say that." Francis warned.

"Girls are so easy to offend. Forget one birthday or an anniversary and you're dead or worse." Gilbert muttered.

"True." Antonio chuckled ruefully.

"Just try not to put your foot in your mouth too much." Francis advised. "Even if she doesn't talk that doesn't means she's deaf." The door opened and there stood Tristany, long blonde hair down and blue eyes holding both secrets and questions.

"Bonjour, Tristany, Gilbert has something to say to you." Francis said pushing his friend forward.

"U-Uh, um, can we come in?" Gilbert's came in a slow, halting fashion that defied awesomeness by any stretch of the imagination. Tris cocked her head to the side as she considered Gilbert's request. Her eyes danced over to Francis and Antonio before she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and moved back from the door.

"Coward," Francis whispered to Gilbert under his breath as he entered Tris's room. Gilbert shrugged sheepishly. Tris leaned against the counter in the kitchen, watching the Bad Touch Trio warily. Gilbert cleared his throat.

"Um, I wanted to apologize for being a jerk, sorry." He appeared to be addressing these words to the carpet with the "sorry" said to the table leg. A slight smile darted across Tris's mouth. She knew Gilbert meant what he said, he didn't seem like the type to lie about something like this but she also knew his friends had pressured him into it which dampened the affect. Her eyes softened and she padded over to where Gilbert was still engrossed with the carpet. She kneeled before him and held his face in her hands so he would look at her. His red eyes held shame and still a fire blazed there. She forced a smile into place and inclined her head slightly. Her eyes seemed to say, 'I accept your apology. We're not friends yet and we may never be 'friends' but we've set out on that road.' This of course was Gilbert's interpretation.

Francis and Antonio were talking to Tris with Gilbert pondering all that had happened and groaning at the stories his two friends were telling about their various escapades, the good, the bad, and the awkward.

After a while, Gilbert got up muttering about having to use the bathroom. When he entered the bathroom, he banged his shin on an open cabinet door beneath the sink. Muttering curses to himself, Gilbert bent to shut it, stopping short when he noticed something odd. How many people kept a relatively large black boxlike case under their bathroom sink? Even though he knew it was wrong, Gilbert couldn't help himself, he opened the case.

The inside of the case was lined with blue and green velvet that smelled like the ocean and apples. Inside the case, were three very different items, one was an instrument that looking like a harp, the next item couldn't be described as "one" as there was more than one picture of Tris with a brown haired girl, the pictures took up most of the space in the case, and the third item was an old leather bound book.

It was the book that captured Gilbert's attention. He picked it up and carefully unbound it. A picture tumbled out. Gilbert picked it up. The snapshot displayed a slightly younger Tristany and the same brown haired girl. Both of them were laughing and eating ice cream which dripped down their faces making them sticky messes. The picture looked to be from about a year ago, the date on the picture supported Gilbert assumption. Gilbert turned his attention back to the book. On the first page the words, _'This journal belongs to Lea Lynch, if you find it please give it back'_ could be discerned. Gilbert was slightly surprised. The book was a journal? Why did Tristany have another person's journal? Despite himself Gilbert turned the page.

_Dear Journal,_

_Today mommy introduced me to another little girl about my age, her name is Tristany Sinclair. Her mommy and my mommy are friends._

Gilbert flipped ahead to the more recent parts skipping about nine years of Lea's life, the girl journaled about everything!

_Dear Journal,_

_Today was another one of those days. I don't understand why they won't leave me alone. Why do they hurt me? After school I made a lame excuse to Tris so she went home by herself. Well before I could leave they got me. They held me down on one of the desks and pressed lit cigarettes onto the skin of my arms, burning me. Luckily a teacher found us but the girls said I burned myself and that they had tried to stop me! I nearly broke down crying. And worse still Tris's mom heard about the "incident" and she says I can't see her anymore. I never like Tris's mom and she never liked me but what the heck am I going to tell Tris?_

A fist pounded on the bathroom door.

"Gil you've been in there forever! Time to go!" Antonio called. Without thinking Gilbert stuffed Lea's journal into his jacket and quickly closed the lid of the case and slid it back under the sink.

"Coming." He called as he opened the door and made his escape with his friends.

**A/N: Finally my next chapter. I wrote this all in one day. I usually do that. Sorry I haven't had any inspiration lately but I will finish this story if it kills me.**

**I'm glad someone commented about the Prussia being a jerk this and I was going to have him apologize anyway but now I can also explore more about Lea via her journal that Prussia, er, "borrowed."**

**This chapter was kind of fun to write but it was really hard coming up with things for Lea to write about. If any of you guys know like a really depressing book, site, or fanfic please message me or review. I can use all the help I can get.**

**Thanks to all the reviewers! You're great every one of you! I love reading the reviews and talking with you guys.**

**Oh, hey, idea! How about a character death? (I know, I'm evil) I'm not sure how most of the site works yet, I'm still learning the ropes here but I think I set up the poll correctly. The options are there and if you have some personal vendetta with one of the characters in this story that did not make it into one of the poll options you can say who should die in a review or a PM. If more than one of you say the same character, that character will be added to the poll. I have no idea when the poll will close so vote and vote fast!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ah, another chapter up. That feels good. I'm trying to write a chapter every couple of days and then post it a day after it gets finished because I really want to finish this story.**

**Thanks to all the lovely readers and reviewers. Love the ideas for the story. Keep 'em coming!**

**This chapter was really a relief because I write by inspiration so I can get hit with an idea that won't come into play until near the end of the story. But here a few ideas are starting to come together. You'll see what I mean in later chapters. Sadly this chapter means we're getting close to the end of the story. T-T But when this story is done I'm going to start working on one called Shadow Country and one called Tears of Courage (no it's not a sequel to this story, if I could think of a way to do one I would.)**

**I have a pole set up on my profile. Vote! Vote! Vote!**

Chapter 8: The Letter

Back in his room, stretched out on his bed, Gilbert stared at Lea's journal. He hadn't meant to take it but what would he do with it now? If he took it back to Tris, she would probably kill both him and the beginnings of their friendship for taking it. If he kept it, Tris would eventually notice it was missing and figure out who took it. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Not to mention he had read a _girl's_ diary! It was one thing reading Francis's diary; that was fun, explicit, and very informative. But reading Lea's had felt like he was peeping into her life where he wasn't welcome and yet he wanted to read more. He knew how the story ended, having overheard the teachers talking on more than one occasion, but he wanted to know Lea's take on it. Gilbert growled as he picked up the leather bound book.

"Forget the consequences I'm gonna read it!"

"Read what?" Antonio asked sticking his head into Gilbert's room.

"Nothing." Gilbert said sitting on Lea's journal. He kicked himself for speaking out loud.

"Darn, I got my hopes up for nothing then." Antonio sighed. Gilbert snarled and threw a pillow at the Spaniard who, laughing, ducked out of the room. Gilbert pulled the book out from under him and flipped it open relatively close to the last page he had read.

_Dear Journal,_

_I finally got to see Tris and talk to her a bit after my mom seriously twisted her mom's arm but I couldn't bring myself to tell her everything. She had that look you know? Like if I said the wrong thing I'd be betraying her. One time she introduced me to her friend Feliciano Vargas and they both have the same look. Like their hearts are so fragile that one ill-timed jostle could shatter it completely. So I kind of chickened out and didn't tell her why I haven't been able to see her. She knew I wasn't telling her everything though. We were sitting on our favorite spot on the docks, our legs dangling out over the water. Tris wouldn't look at me; she was focused solely on the ocean._

'_You can tell me you know.' She said. I was surprised. Tris was the happy go lucky sort even if she was cautious about who she let into her heart, saying something like that was unusual for her._

'_I know that.' I said. She turned to look at me, eyes cold and calculating._

'_Do you?' That one question was saturated with love, worry, speculation, and hurt. I felt lower than dirt as I met Tris's eyes and lied to her._

'_I tell you everything.'_

'_Then tell me why you have been avoiding me.' I winced at her word choice._

'_I haven't been avoiding you, I just have been busy.' Tris rolled her eyes._

'_Like I was 'busy' when Maria and her gang targeted me?' Maria, as you know journal, is the alpha thug who set her sight on Tris thinking if she could get her in her gang they could have an advantage over the other gangs in the city. They were wrong. Like most gangs their law is 'join or die' and you can guess which Tris chose. She became a target after that and stayed home to protect me and our other friend Toris._

'_You want the truth?' I asked._

'_No, I want you to lie to me, of course I want the truth. Why wouldn't I?'_

'_Truth is more dangerous to pursue.' I said. Tris's eyes softened._

'_I know. But I still want to know what it is.'_

'_Even if it hurts?'_

'_Even then.'_

'_Why?' This made Tris pause._

'_Because even if the truth is painful, it is still the truth. If we all lived a lie, then sure life would be great, but humans can't live like that.' I snorted._

'_Then I guess half the planet isn't human.' Tris punched my arm and the subject was dropped. But seriously journal, should I tell her about the crap in my life? Should I tell her that her mother has been the thing keeping me from spending time with my best friend? If I did, would she hate her mother? I don't want to be the one to cause a rift between them. So the question remains. What do I do?_

_~Lea_

Gilbert was interrupted in his reading again by Francis's blonde head appearing out of nowhere.

"What are you reading Gil?" Gilbert shut Lea's journal.

"Nothing."

"Don't be ashamed. I'm proud of you. It's a huge step in your maturity. For once, you're not reading manga."

"Shut up!" Gilbert reached to throw a pillow at him but realized he had already thrown his pillow at Antonio when he came in earlier and had failed to pick it up. Francis sat beside Gilbert.

"So really, what is it?" Francis seemed to know this was serious. Gilbert sighed and handed him the journal. Francis scanned the entries, his face morphing from glee to interest to horror the further he got. Finally after he had finished reading it he spluttered, "Wha-what is this?"

"Tris's friend's, Lea's, journal."

"This is horrible," Francis's eyes darkened with suspicion, "but how did you get it?" Gilbert looked away.

"I sort of found it."

"You stole it?!"

"Found not stole."

"Where did you 'find' it?"

"Tristany's bathroom."

"Why were you looking through her bathroom? Wait. Never mind. I don't want to know." Gilbert's face reddened.

"The awesome wouldn't go through a girl's bathroom."

"And yet you would take her dead friend's journal. You draw a really weird line in a really weird place." Francis stated blandly.

"Whatever."

"So, what do we do?"

"Huh?"

"What do we do now that we've read this?" Gilbert shrugged.

"I donno, give it back I guess." Francis snorted.

"She will freakin' kill you man."

"I think so too… I know, I'll get West to deliver it for me. He's friends with Tristany right?" Francis nodded.

"Oui, I believe so."

"Great, then I'll just give him the journal tomorrow and he can give it back to her. He can make up some story about finding it or something."

"She won't buy that."

"Doesn't matter if she buys it, it won't be our problem." Francis sighed and picked up Lea's journal. An envelope slipped out from the back of the journal and slowly glided to the floor.

"Eh? What's this?" Francis stooped and picked up the envelope. He opened it and quickly scanned the letter.

"Well? What is it?" asked Gilbert trying to snatch the letter away from Francis. Horrified blue eyes met Gilbert's red ones.

"It's a suicide note addressed to Tristany signed by Lea."

**Mwahhahahahaha! Bet you wonder what the suicide note says, eh? Well you have to wait and find out in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Ha Ha! I got chapter nine done! This chapter took forever! There was so much stuff I had to put in there!**

**Wow, I've never used four exclamation points in a row before. Cool. I've been trying so hard to figure out how many more chapters are left in this story and I think there will be at least… uh, two more chapters.**

**Story ideas are welcome even though this one is coming to a close. Suggestions are sought after and reviews are awesome.**

**This is like my shortest author's note ever… The rest of it is at the bottom of the chapter.**

Chapter 9: Speaking Out Can Get You Killed

"You want me to do what?!" Ludwig screeched, his voice going into octaves where it did not belong.

"Quiet down, bruder." Gilbert commanded as the librarian tossed them a dirty look.

"Why did you take her journal?"

"It wasn't her journal, it was her friend's." Gilbert said matter-of-factly. Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and that's makes such a difference."

"So, will you do it?"

"No!"

"Why not?" Gilbert whined.

"You do it."

"I can't. She'd kill me."

"Serve you right." Ludwig mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Look, I didn't want it to come to this but read this." Gilbert pulled out an envelope and handed it to his brother. Ludwig opened it and scanned its contents. It read as follows:

_Hey there Tris,_

_If you have found this, I am most likely dead. If I am not dead, then you have been snooping through my stuff. If that is the case, I suggest you put this note back where you got it as it is not for your eyes at this time. However, I am fairly confident that is not the case, as I have hidden this note in my journal and I highly doubt you would be peeping into that. It is yours by the way, my journal, all the pictures of us and our friends, and my harp now belong to you. My mother should give them to you along with some other things as I have also written her a letter that states my wishes on the subject. _

_Now for a more personal section. I know I have always called suicide the cowardly and selfish way out, after all you're leaving everyone else to clean up your mess (now there's some dark humor for you), but I honestly cannot keep living like this. Believe me I have tried. I tried everything I could think of but it never worked. I cannot keeping putting you, my anam cara, in danger like this. People have tried to kill me Tris. I know, shocking right? Well, maybe not. I've had to do some things I'm not proud of to keep you and the rest of our friends safe. Someday you should ask Aniki about it. Anyway I wanted you to know there was nothing you could have said to change my mind, I was going to do it anyway. You know, I've often read in books that the more painful the suicide is the greater, the self-hatred is. I wonder how high on the list strangulation is. But Caterpillar, I still love you like a sister and I will miss you. I'm sorry it has to be this way but I see no other option._

_I'm so sorry._

_~Lea_

Ludwig was silent a moment before he placed the suicide note back into its envelope.

"Fine. I'll take it to her. But if she asks where I got it, I am going to tell her the truth." Gilbert smirked then started laughing.

"If she asks? If she asks we're all in trouble." He chortled. Ludwig looked confused then it clicked. "She's mute, moron." Gilbert smiled and shook his head at his brother.

"Oh. Right. I forgot."

"How do you forget something like that?" Ludwig's ears turned red.

"Well, I'll be going now." Ludwig announced pushing back from the table and nearly running out of the library with Lea's journal tucked under his arm. As he made his way to Tristany's dorm, he passed a gang of kids who started whispering as soon as they saw him.

"Hey, isn't that…?"

"Yeah, it's _that_ guy."

"That's _him_?"

"Not what you expected?"

"He looks so normal."

"Yeah, well, his grandfather was Hitler's right hand man."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I heard one kid even found a swastika in his room." Ludwig winced. That stupid rumor had been going around school for months. Sure it had been true that his grandfather had known Hitler, they had grown up together, but he wasn't his right hand man. As for the swastika in his room, it was only a small piece of red fabric, fabric that had come from a German flag, not the Nazi symbol. A boy stepped in front of Ludwig, forcing him to stop.

"Well, if it isn't the great Ludwig Beilschmidt." The boy made a mocking salute. "Where are you off to Nazi boy?"

"None of your business, Thomas." Ludwig growled. Thomas Pane was the leader of the largest "gang" on campus, he was notorious for picking fights with any male student that was from a different country.

"I think it is my business actually, my father being a chairman and all." Thomas sniffed. Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and my dad is Assistant Headmaster. So really, I'm higher up on the food chain than you." Thomas's face reddened. He was about to say something when Ludwig took the opportunity to slide past him. He was down the hall before Thomas even finished opening his mouth.

Ludwig paused outside Tristany's door. What would he say to her? He hadn't really thought about what he would say, which now, he saw, was a bad idea. He was about to raise his fist to knock on Tristany's door when it opened and there stood the Atlantian girl.

"Tr-Tris." Ludwig stuttered. Tris cocked her head to the side, wondering why Ludwig was there. "I-I wanted to return this to you." Ludwig thrust Lea's journal at Tris who nearly dropped it. Tris's eyes seemed gray with confusion. Why did Ludwig have Lea's journal? And- Oh. Now Tris understood. Gilbert must have found it or something when he had been in her bathroom. She sighed noiselessly.

"Um, I'll be going now." Ludwig said as he spun and speed walked outside the building. He closed his eyes and inhaled the evening air. Now that was done he really had nothing else to do. Maybe he would go take a walk. At least that was his plan before he was surrounded by a group of boys…

Tristany stared at Lea's journal in her hands for a few moments then tucked it into her jacket pocket and continued on her way outside the building. As Tristany exited the doors, she saw several large boys surrounding Ludwig. They were shoving and snickering at him and saying something about Nazis. Suddenly the lead boy pulled out a knife, the blade glittering in the moonlight. Before Tris fully understood what she was doing, she found herself in the middle of the group.

"Stop!" Tristany ordered as she stepped protectively in front of the German. Both Ludwig and Tristany was shocked that she had spoken.

"Why look what we have here boys. My, my, aren't you a fine looking girl. Want to hang with us?" Thomas, for that was who the lead boy was, asked.

"What I want is for you to leave my friend alone."

"That would be a no then." The boy sighed. "Pity. We'll have fun with you still. Jared, Green, hold her." Two big boys moved forward grabbing Tris's arms and holding them behind her back. She struggled and fought managing to kick both boys in the crotch, leaving them lying on the ground moaning.

"Is that how you want to play it? Luke, Robert, Cookie, makes sure Nazi boy does not interfere." The leader turned his full attention on Tristany. "Well, we'll just have to take care of you first won't we?" Four boys this time caught Tris and held her down as the leader straddled her and placed his hands around her throat, choking. Tris's vision began to fade in and out as she fought for precious air.

So this is it. This is how I'm going to die. Not by suicide but by being choked to death by some punk I don't even know. How ironic, Tris thought dryly. She thought she distantly heard the sound of voices. Feliciano? Mr. Kirkland? Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio? Before her brain could try to make sense of what she was hearing, everything went black.

**What happened? Did I kill Tris? Maybe… You'll have to read on and find out.**

**Voting poll is still up. People please vote! When I post the next chapter the poll will be closed down… Please don't make my first poll an epic fail with not a single vote… *sighs dramatically***

**Although, reviews would make me feel all better. *smiles cutely* Please?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello peoples! Well as this is now posted the poll is closed… But it was not an epic fail. Who did I kill? You have to read on to find out.**

**I'm trying something a little different and I hope it works out. And apparently I'm supposed to do the disclaimer more than once per story so here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do own Hetalia! I own Hetalia season three and four! But sadly it was not my idea…**

Chapter 10: _"…Say hello."_

"_Baby, we have someone we would like you to meet." The child's calm blue eyes observed the world passively._

"_Who is it, mama?" The child asked, small hand clutching at her mother's skirt. Another woman stood beside her mother with another little girl beside her._

"_Her name is Lea." Her mother said resting her hands on the other girl's brown hair._

"_Now, say hello." Tris raised her eyes to the other girl._

"_Hello."_

"…_is…"_

"…_ris…"_

"…_Tris…"_

"…_Tris…?"_

"_JUST FREAKIN' WAKE UP ALREADY!" Tris's eyes snapped open. Where was she? Why was it so bright? She looked around her. She was surrounded on all sides by warm golden light, ahead of her a familiar figure and further back a city, gleaming and beautiful with tall gates of mother of pearl._

"_You awake now, Caterpillar?" Tris's eyes widened._

"_Lea?"_

"_Hey there," Lea gave a small half wave._

"_What on earth…?" Lea smiled._

"_No, not on earth."_

"_I- am I dead?" Tris stuttered._

"_Mostly dead, but mostly dead is still slightly alive and that's why we're here." Lea said, hugging her friend._

"_I've been wanting to see you again." Tris muttered. Lea nodded._

"_I know."  
"You know?"_

"_I've been watching you every step of the way."_

"_You have?"_

"_Of course. Weren't you the one who forced me to watch all those sappy chick flicks? Isn't that what the hero is supposed to say?"_

"_I wasn't aware you were the hero of this tale."_

"_You better believe it. I'm the half American hero." Lea said flipping a double thumbs up._

"_What does that make me?"_

"_The slightly alive friend of the all the way dead hero."_

"_Cheerful." Tris said._

"_Isn't it?" Lea gave a sardonic smile. "But you need to leave now."_

"_Why? I just got here."_

"_Look, I know how much you gave up to try to see me again but you need to go back. This is a place for the dead and you're not there yet. Besides they need you down there." Lea pointed at the clouds below them which parted to allow a bird's eyes view of a hospital. They zoomed in closer until they hovered over another Tris, who was sleeping on a hospital bed with ligature marks around her neck and a tube inserted down her throat. Ludwig and Feliciano were both at her bedside arguing with a doctor and several nurses._

"_They need you so much they'll argue with doctors not to pull the plug on your life support."_

"_But I need you too." Tris pleaded._

"_Don't worry, you'll see me again." Lea promised. "And, when you get back, please, get some serious help. I don't want to see you up here anytime soon. And, um, tell Francis it wasn't his fault."_

"_Wait! You know Francis? What isn't his fault?" The light around Lea began to fade but as it did, Tris could make out another figure standing beside Lea. Another familiar figure. Aniki. Her Aniki. Why was her brother in the land of the dead unless he was- The light faded completely and Tris was falling._

"_Now, say hello…"_

"_Hello."_

…_Don't forget me…_

…_I'll miss you…_

…_But I refuse to say goodbye, so for now I'll just have to settle for "hello."_

**So, what did you think? Review and/or message me. I love talking with you people.**

**Reviews keep me going and I'm running out of steam here… *hint, hint, nudge, nudge***

**You guys are really great and I'm grateful to you all for motivating me (messaging, PMing me, and threatening me) to get this far.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here it is! You like? If you don't remember who died or didn't know in the first place you find out here! (I know, I suck)**

Chapter 11: Hospital

When Tristany awoke, she felt like she was being suffocated again. Her hands tore at her throat as she fought for air. Distantly she could hear voices shouting about taking the tube out before she killed herself. Tris felt several people attempting to hold her down, which acted as incentive for her to fight harder to get whatever was stopping her from breathing out of her throat. A German accented voice broke through to Tris.

"Bruder, Antonio, Francis, hold her down! I'll get the tube out." Tris felt the hands begin holding her down in earnest as something hard yet somewhat pliable made its way up her throat. As soon as it was out, the hands left Tris and she started hacking, hands clutching at the sheets around her.

"Ve? Are you okay Tris? Can you hear me?" Feliciano asked. Tris opened her eyes to see her Italian friend before her looking worried. Tris nodded.

"I-I think so." She said, voice raspy from disuse. Gilbert smiled at Tris as he down on the edge of the hospital bed.

"So that's what your voice sounds like."

"W-What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Feliciano's brown eyes were clouded with worry.

"Not all of it." Tris said, eyes trained on Ludwig, seeking an answer.

"What do you remember, chika?" Antonio asked moving closer to the bed.

"Ludwig came to my room to return Lea's journal," Gilbert's face flushed as he ducked his head, "and I had a place I needed to go, so I left too. I saw a bunch of guys surrounding Ludwig and I…" Tris looked down at her hands trying to piece everything together. "I ran over to help?"

"You sure did, yelling at them as you came." Ludwig said smiling. "Thanks for that."

"So what happened after I…?" Tris trailed off unable to finish her question."

"Feli, Antonio, Gilbert, me, and Mr. Kirkland were all walking in our respected groups when we all saw what was going on. We rushed over to help and like the cowards they were they ran away." Francis said. Tris nodded slowly.

"So how long have I been here?"

"Not too long, only about two weeks."

"Then why did the doctors want to take me off life support?" Tris asked. They all visibly paled.

"How-" Before anyone could ask Tris how she knew information no one had told her, the door to her room was flung open by Mr. Kirkland.

"-All I'm saying is there are some things a fractured person doesn't need to know! And if you think you're going to bloody tell her you've got another thing coming!" The Scottish teacher yelled at the young female doctor before he noticed Tris was awake.

"Sinclair, you're awake!" Mr. Kirkland raced over to Tris and looked her over. He let out a sigh of relief, satisfied that it really was Tris in the hospital bed and not her doppelgänger. "I'm glad you're okay." He ruffled her hair affectionately. Tris smoothed down her tousled hair and smiled. This smile was different from the ones she usually gave. This one had real joy behind it. The door opened again and Lovino, Feliciano's brother, was standing there breathing hard.

"You left without me, moron." He growled at his brother. Feliciano smiled at his brother and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"But fratello, I wanted to see Tris." Lovino rolled his eyes.

"That's your excuse for everything."

"But it's true!" Lovino stalked over to his brother and whispered something in his ear. Feliciano paled.

"B-But you shouldn't t-tell her y-yet. She only j-just w-woke up." He protested lower lip quivering.

"Shouldn't tell me what?" Tris asked, her voice reminiscent of a young child's. Lovino opened his mouth about to tell her when Mr. Kirkland cut Lovino off.

"It's Aniki. He's dead."

**Dun, dun, dah! ****And so it is revealed who died! Surprised? Yes, I am aware of my supreme evilness.**

**Review and I'll give Tris a love interest! (Incentive enough?)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm baaaaack!**

**Thanks to all the reviewers! And here is the love interest like I promised. I'm probably going to need a few more chapters to develop it into something not gag worthy but it's a work in progress.**

**I'm trying very hard not to switch genres here but it's so hard! If I ever start to go too far, please tell me.**

**Ideas and plot twists are still welcome.**

**Thanks~**

Chapter 12: "I Believe Him."

Tris sat in the hospital bed in shock, eyes blank and unfocused.

"My brother is… dead?" her voice was small and wavered when she asked her question. Mr. Kirkland sat down on Tris's bed and pulled Tris into a hug.

"Yes. I'm so sorry." He whispered. A tear traced its way down Tris's face.

"How?"

"Pardon?" Mr. Kirkland held Tris away from himself so he could hear her.

"How did he die?" All the men in the room look at each other, unsure of how to answer that question or even if they should.

"From what the police told us, it was a hit and run. They're pretty sure it was a freak accident but they're not ruling out foul play." Mr. Kirkland said scanning Tris's face to see how she would take the news. Tris just sat there trying to understand that her big brother was gone. It was then that it struck her. She had already known Aniki was dead. When she had seen Lea before she woke up, she had seen another person beside her dead friend. Tris now knew it had been her brother. But how could something like this happen? Tris doubted it was an accident. Aniki was not the sort of person who forgot to look both ways. He was not the sort of person who crossed the street with his iPod blaring music into his ears. He was not the sort of person "accidents" like these happened to. Ergo, it was no accident. Tris kept this little epiphany to herself however as she doubted the others would listen to her. The door to her room opened again. A young boy about Tris's age, was standing in the doorway, holding a bouquet of flowers. Instantly every male in the room tensed as if they were preparing for battle.

"Um, is this Tristany Sinclair's room?" the boy asked. None of the men answered. Tris gave a slight smile to the boy.

"Yes it is. I'm Tristany."

"Uh, um," the boy blushed scarlet, looking down at his feet. "I'm Aaron Crossway."

"Get out." Gilbert snarled, red eyes flashing with hatred.

"Gilbert!" Tris barked, blue eyes so sharp with anger they could have cut diamond. "That is no way to talk to Mr. Crossway!" Gilbert turned on Tris pure fury on his face.

"You wouldn't say so if you knew who he was."

"Then who is he?"

"He-"

"I am Thomas Pane's cousin. I'm also the second command of Thomas's little 'gang.'"

"See!" Gilbert spat. "He's one of the guys who tried to kill you and Ludwig!"

"I wasn't for hurting either of them!" Aaron yelled. Everyone in the room was taken aback by Aaron's outburst. An awkward silence settled on the room. Tris looked from Gilbert to Aaron, who was breathing hard. Finally, Tris broke the silence.

"I believe him."

"What?!" Gilbert, Ludwig, Mr. Kirkland, Lovino, Francis, and Antonio yelled together.

"I said I believe him." Tris repeated.

"Why?" Mr. Kirkland asked. "Why do you believe him?"

"First of all he doesn't look like he would want to hurt anyone and secondly if he did try to help hurt us why would he come to the hospital with flowers?"

"Maybe to finish the job." Gilbert muttered darkly. Tris eyes narrowed.

"Well it's my life and I think I can chance it," she said turning away from Gilbert. "Mr. Crossway, come closer." Aaron walked to Tris's bed and stood before her.

"Yes?"

"Are you here to kill me?" Aaron seemed startled at the question.

"No." he said. Tris closed her eyes and smiled.

"Good, because I've just been through hell and have no intention of seeing it again anytime soon." The atmosphere in the room didn't grow lighter but Aaron did seem to relax a bit. After a while, everyone was forced to leave by an overzealous nurse. All except Aaron, who was allowed to stay, much to everyone else's irritation.

"I'm sorry." Aaron whispered at last, breaking a ten minute silence that began as soon as the others left.

"What are you sorry for?" Tris asked.

"I should have stopped Thomas sooner but I didn't."

"I'm not going to tell you it's okay because, really, it's not. Gilbert was right. I could have died by your cousin's hands and what would have happened if I did? Not even the best doctors can resurrect the dead." Aaron stared at his hands.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"But… I'm grateful in a way."

"Grateful?"

"Yeah. This might sound crazy but I saw my best friend Lea while I was unconscious."

"Why are you grateful for that?"

"Because she's dead."

"I'm sorry." Aaron said lowering his head.

"Stop apologizing." Tris said slapping Aaron's arm.

"Sorry." He said and they both started laughing.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Here it is, chapter three! Here is the last chapter of this story but don't worry, the show will go on. It'll just be under another name with a totally different story line and maybe some new characters will be added.**

**Thank you to all the awesome readers and reviewers. I hope you guys like this chapter and I will do my best to continue this story.**

**Ideas are like always welcome.**

**On a totally unrelated subject my friend and I got two pumpkins for Halloween and we named them. She named hers Jack the Tripper and I named mine Prussia the Awesome. Sound familiar?**

Chapter 13: The End of One Adventure and the Beginning of Another

Aniki's funeral was held on the last Saturday of the month and, of course, it was raining. Every person who had known Aniki was there dressed in black. Mr. Kirkland, Feliciano, Lovino, Ludwig, Francis, Gilbert, Antonio, and surprisingly, Aaron, all came to the funeral to support Tris. Tris stood before her brother's casket, fists clenched at her sides. Her blue eyes were the color of ice and at that moment seemed just as cold. She was furious with her older brother for leaving her alone. And she truly was alone. Both her parents had disappeared as well as Malcolm not long after Aniki's death. The hunt for her parents was still on. Aaron walked over to Tris and grabbed one of her hands. He just held it for a while, looking at Aniki Sinclair's casket. Suddenly Tris's other hand was being held. Tris looked up and saw Ludwig looking off to the side, blushing. Tris smiled in spite of herself.

"Guys, I'm not a baby. I'm fine." It was a lie, they all knew that. But it was a lie that would keep Tris going.

"What are you talking about? I just don't want him to be near you." Ludwig said glaring at Aaron, even though Aaron had more or less become Tris's shadow, Ludwig and Aaron still didn't really like each other.

"Yeah and I don't want Nazi boy to be around you or holding your hand." Aaron said shot back. Ludwig flinched at the insult and Tris pulled both of her hands free from the feuding males.

"Testosterone spill on aisle five." Tris muttered as she walked away from Ludwig and Aaron, towards the area where her brother was to be buried. She thought she was the only one there until she noticed someone standing off to her right, standing at Lea's grave. It took Tris a moment to realize it was Francis. When she registered who it was she walked toward him and accidently overheard some of what he was saying to Lea's headstone.

"I'm so sorry. I knew what was going on and I didn't do anything. I'm such a jerk. You must really hate me…"

"No she doesn't." Tris said causing Francis to jump.

"Tris? What are you doing here?"

"This is a public cemetery and my brother's supposed to be buried over there." Tris said pointing at the spot. "And she doesn't hate you."

"And how do you know that? You don't even know what happened!"

"I know because she told me."

"She told you?" Francis's face showed hurt that Lea had divulged whatever had happened between them to Tris.

"Yeah, when I was in the hospital unconscious I saw her. She told me that I needed to go back and the usual stuff. She also told me that you guys were fighting with the doctors to not take me off life support. And before she left and I woke up she told me to tell you it wasn't your fault." Francis's body relaxed when he realized Tris didn't know what he wasn't being blamed for.

"That makes sense, just before you woke up another kid from our school, Arthur Kirkland, Ian's youngest brother, was in your room and he swore he saw a soul come through the ceiling and get sucked into your mouth. He nearly fainted from surprise. I guess he really can see things the rest of us can't.…and uh, Lea didn't tell you what it was about…?"

"Nope." Tris said. Francis smiled slightly.

"Better that way I guess," he muttered under his breath.

*Time skip*

Tris was sitting in the music room during lunch playing The Parting Glass on Lea's harp. The soft music was the only sound in the deserted room. Suddenly the door opened and Ludwig, Feliciano, and Aaron were there, listening to Tris's music. Feli closed his eyes and mouthed the words to the song. When Tris had finished she turned to her friends.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"We were just looking for you." Feli said. Tris snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Thanks but I'm fine. I even brought my lunch with me. See?" Tris held up a baggie with two slices of pepperoni pizza inside. Even though Tris had started eating again Feli and Ludwig still watched her like hawks but mercifully they had stopped feeding her like she was two years old.

"Maybe they came to check up on you but I'm just here to talk." Aaron said as he sat on one of the desks. Ludwig glared at him but said nothing. "So, what are you planning on doing?"

"What do you mean?" Tris asked as she carefully put away Lea's harp into its case.

"You know full well what I mean." Tris grimaced. She didn't think she was that easy to read.

"I'm going to track down the person who murdered my brother." Tris said standing up.

"I thought the police said it was a hit and run." Ludwig said. Tris nodded.

"That's what the official report said, yes. But I talked with a lot of the officers and they don't think it was an accident."

"Not an accident maybe, but how do you jump from "accident" to murder so quickly?" Ludwig asked.

"My big brother was not the sort of person accidents happened to. He wasn't that careless."

"Accidents have nothing to do with being careless. They happen to everybody." Tris's eyes snapped up filled with fury.

"Then explain to me why my big brother is gone _and_ why my parents have both disappeared off the face of the earth within a few weeks of each other." Ludwig was silent. "Going off the assumption that Aniki was murder is the only theory that answers nearly all the questions."

"All the questions except why." Aaron put in. Feliciano nodded.

"Aaron's right. Tris, why would anyone want to kill your brother?"

"That's the question I keep asking myself. Why? What did my brother ever do to anyone? And I think I have the answer. In her suicide note Lea said that she had to do some things she wasn't proud of to keep me and our friends safe. She also said I should ask Aniki about it sometime."

"So?"

"So I'm thinking that whatever Lea did Aniki had something to do with it. Why else would she tell me to ask him about it?" Feliciano considered this and shrugged.

"It's not a totally unrealistic leap in logic."

"Thank you." Tris said.

"But my question remains, what are you going to _do_?" Aaron asked.

"I don't quite follow." Tris said.

"You said that you want to track down the persons or persons who did this but you didn't say how. What are you going to do?" Tris was silent as she thought this over.

"Well… I hadn't really thought that far…" she admitted.

"Fine, we'll help you." Aaron said.

"But I didn't ask-"

"We all have connections you'll need. You should ask Alfred Jones for help too. His dad used to be a hot shot private detective before he became a senator. Also Mr. Kirkland used to work for Scotland Yard. He'll probably be useful." Tris smiled.

"Thanks guys. I guess we're all in this together then."

"Like it would be any other way." Feliciano said.

"We're not that easy to get rid of." Ludwig said.

"And I just got here, I'm not leaving yet." Aaron declared. Tris picked up her harp case and walked over to the door. Ludwig, Feliciano, and Aaron followed Tris out of the room.

"We're with you one hundred percent."

"Alright, we better get started then. We've got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of questions to ask before this gets anywhere near over." They all grinned at each other, they could almost see the new adventure coming their way, and it was going to be one heck of a ride.

**The last chapter… Man I can't believe I made it this far. I'm happy with what I have now but it's really quite different from how I originally planned it to be and the whole love interest was never part of the original. At least with Aaron Tris will have a constant companion.**

**Here's a question for you. Who do you think killed Aniki? Also do you think Tris's parents were murdered too and that's why they're missing or did they really kill Aniki so they went into hiding?**

**I'd love to hear your takes on this.**

**By the way the sequel is called I Will Find You. Keep your eyes open for it. I hope you all will read and review it.**

**Thanks guys, see ya in the next one~**


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